Painting, pasting and coating: decorate your home with natural products!

Home products are often toxic. Coatings, paints, adhesives are filled with components that can be both dangerous for the environment, but also for your own health. To avoid it, here are some green solutions recommended by professionals, which will allow you to decorate your home with natural products.

Let’s start with paints.

Clay paint: in order to make your own clay paint, start off by mixing clay and water in a bucket. Stir then sieve with drainer to rid the earth of its impurities. Let it stay still overnight. The next day, scoop out the remaining water. Eventually add flour glue, whiting, and a little linseed oil. You can also add a little bit of white vinegar, in order to create an anti-bacterial element.

Painting with potato and milk: To make 2 liters of paint, mix 400 g of cooked potatoes with 1 liter of milk. Dissolve 500 g of white Moudon in 0.2 liters of water. Mix the two solutions together. Add pigments. Blend the mixture again and filter. If the result is too thick, add a little milk.

Wallpaper paste: to paste the equivalent of three rolls of wallpaper take 250 g rye flour and mix it in 1 liter of warm water. You must obtain a smooth and liquid compound in order to use it efficiently. Then warm up at a low heating temperature for ten minutes before adding 1 liter of warm water. Heat and stir to remove any lumps. If you add 2 dl of turpentine, the glue will not rot and will work as insecticide.

Rice glue: this is the perfect glue to assemble everything related to paper. Take one-third quantity of water. Cook 200g of rice at low heat. When the rice is overcooked, starch dissolves in water; the liquid thickens and becomes white. Let the water stand for a while, filter the rice, then use it as a paste.

Casein glue: this paste is suitable for pasting things made of sea-grass, natural linoleum, parquet and cork. Take some white cheese, lime and borax. Drain 1 kg of fresh cheese overnight. You get casein. Weigh the casein and divide by 4. The result is the weight of lime to add. Then add 10 g of borax (careful, borax can cause irritation of skin). Use the paste within six hours. Known since the Middle Ages, this ultra powerful glue was even used in the early days of aviation.

Paste flour: take two tablespoons of flour and a teaspoon of sugar. Heat it at low heat temperature with a little water. Whisk well to break up lumps. Stir while continuing to pour two glasses of water. 100% natural, this glue can be used for about four days.

Coating with lime mortar: the gross appearance of the lime mortar is very trendy and allows your walls to breathe. Put some water in a large container, mix two parts of lime, one part of cement with two parts of water, plus half a dose of sand. Mix them, then let them stand. Before applying, be sure to wet the wall, if it was painted previously. For more aesthetic finishes, you can add linseed oil, tint the mortar with pigment or wax it.

Coating with lime-hemp concrete: this is the ideal stuff for use as coating on thick brick walls or stone. It will increase the insulation of the wall. Be careful, though, since it is difficult to make. Take a mixer and mix 80 liters of water per 65 pounds of natural hydraulic lime. Then pour a bag of hemp solution. Rotate the concrete mixer. Once the mixture is glossy, it’s perfect and ready for use.

Putty for your windows: mix a dose of linseed oil with four doses of whiting. Apply this solution with a knife and smooth the tip of your fingers. If you want a color other than putty, apply a black pigment for a gray or black appearance, or clarified linseed oil if you want white putty. Repaint with a natural paint as soon as it is dry. It takes about three weeks to dry properly.

Of course, you’ll need some practice to master these techniques, but it is nothing compared to the satisfaction to prove you are able to do it!